Jeremiah - Lesson 13

• Chapters 1-6 The foundation of this book is established by the LORD’s calling of Jeremiah as a prophet to Judah in the final days of that kingdom. The LORD’s people, Israel and Judah, had rejected their God by worshipping false gods without repentance. The LORD is sending a nation from the North as judgment, but not for the complete destruction of His people.

  • Chapter 7 Preaching from a gate at the temple in Jerusalem, Jeremiah calls out the impending destruction of the temple and the city like that which was done at Shiloh. The temple’s existence is not going to save Jerusalem from the judgment to be sent because of the people’s worship of foreign gods and their disregard for the protection of the needy.

  • Chapter 8 When judgment comes on Jerusalem it will be the apostate Jews who will turn to their worship of false gods leading the way to destruction, instructed by the spiritual leaders of the day. The LORD is saddened by the necessity of discipline in Jeremiah’s day in the same way He was when a similar situation unfolds in the time of Christ.

  • Chapter 9 The LORD again declares sadness in disciplining His people who are filled with lying and slander against each other and the LORD. They worship the Baals and forsake the LORD.

  • Chapter 10 The LORD’s people are not to worship or fear signs in the heavens or idols made from the created world. The LORD God, who is the Creator, is the only God to be worshipped.

  • Chapter 11 The LORD’s people have willingly violated their covenant with Him, specifically including the worshipping of other gods continually, and now it is His will to bring the consequences to bear on His people. Some people desire to silence the LORD’s prophet.

  • Chapter 12 Jeremiah asks the LORD why it seems the wicked prosper in this life. The LORD prepared Jeremiah for the path ahead to get worse for the LORD’s people, and yet there will be grace offered to His people and the nations in the future.

Jer. 13:1 Thus the LORD said to me, “Go and buy yourself a linen waistband and put it around your waist, but do not put it in water.”
Jer. 13:2 So I bought the waistband in accordance with the word of the LORD and put it around my waist.
Jer. 13:3 Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying,
Jer. 13:4 “Take the waistband that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a crevice of the rock.”
Jer. 13:5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD had commanded me.
Jer. 13:6 After many days the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates and take from there the waistband which I commanded you to hide there.”
Jer. 13:7 Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it; and lo, the waistband was ruined, it was totally worthless.

• Verse 1 The LORD speaks to Jeremiah giving him a specific chore.

  • The LORD tells Jeremiah to go and buy a linen waistband.

Jer. 13:1 NIV (2011) This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.”

Jer. 13:1 ESV Thus says the LORD to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.”

• Hebrew : ‘ezor’, or sash.

  • Jeremiah is to take this new linen garment and put it around his waist.

  • There is a specific instruction to not put any water on this waistband.

  • Unwashed linen is known to retain its strength and endurance.

• Verse 2 Jeremiah does as instructed by the LORD.

  • Verse 3 At some point after Jeremiah has been wearing the linen waistband the LORD comes to him again.

  • Verse 4 The LORD instructs Jeremiah to take this garment he has been wearing to the river Euphrates and hide it in the crevice of the rock.

  • Verse 5 The verse says by the Euphrates.

    • Jeremiah takes a trip to some point on the river Euphrates.

    • The closest distance from Jerusalem to the river would be four to five hundred miles.

    • This is a very long journey and there is no time frame given to indicate how long it took Jeremiah to make this journey or when he took this journey.

  • The LORD did not give an indication to Jeremiah of why he was to wear this garment and then take a journey to put it in the crevice of a rock at this point.

    • Jeremiah just obeys the LORD.

• Verse 6 Jeremiah indicates it was many days before the LORD communicated again with him in regard to the garment he has purchased and buried by the Euphrates.

  • Jeremiah is instructed to go back to the Euphrates and retrieve the item he had buried.

• Verse 7 Now when Jeremiah returns to the Euphrates, he has to dig to find the item he put in the crevice of a rock. It seems dirt is now covering this crevice in the rock.

  • If the rock was by the Euphrates, then it would be logical to say higher water flowing from the river reached the rock and left enough silt to bury the rock containing the garment.

  • Jeremiah confirms the garment was ruined and totally worthless.

Jer. 13:8 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer. 13:9 “Thus says the LORD, ‘Just so will I destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.
Jer. 13:10 ‘This wicked people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this waistband which is totally worthless.
Jer. 13:11 ‘For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to Me,’ declares the LORD, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for renown, for praise and for glory; but they did not listen.’

• Verse 8 As Jeremiah is looking at the condition of the garment; then the LORD speaks to Jeremiah.

  • Verse 9 The LORD says in the same way as this garment has been destroyed, He will destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

    • The pride of Judah is listed distinctly from Jerusalem.

    • The pride of Jerusalem is labeled as great pride.

• Verse 10 This wicked people have refused to listen to the LORD’s words.

  • They have walked in stubbornness of heart.

  • They have gone after other gods, bowing down to them.

  • Let these wicked people become like this garment, totally worthless.

• Verse 11 The garment that Jeremiah was to wear represented something that would cling to him.

  • This garment was a picture of how the LORD made Israel and Judah to cling to Him.

    • They were to be a people, set apart from the other nations of the world.

    • They were to be renowned or have a name for being the LORD’s.

    • A people to praise the LORD.

    • A people to be glory for the LORD.

  • They did not listen to the Word of the LORD.

  • They did not obey the commands of the LORD.

  • They specifically traded in all they were to be towards the LORD and granted it to false gods.

• This garment represents something the people were to be for the LORD, something that was to be seen by others, something that was for adornment but also with purpose like a belt or sash.

  • When the people stayed in a position of clinging to Him like a belt or sash around His waist, they were being to the LORD what they were meant to be.

  • As pictures of the unwashed linen, they were to be strong and demonstrate endurance.

  • When they removed themselves from clinging to Him then they put themselves in a place like a crevice in a rock where they were destroyed by the elements of their false worship.

    • It washed over them and now they are as worthless as this limp, destroyed piece of fabric Jeremiah was looking at.   

Jer. 13:12 “Therefore you are to speak this word to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Every jug is to be filled with wine.”’ And when they say to you, ‘Do we not very well know that every jug is to be filled with wine?’
Jer. 13:13 then say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land — the kings that sit for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem — with drunkenness!
Jer. 13:14 “I will dash them against each other, both the fathers and the sons together,” declares the LORD. “I will not show pity nor be sorry nor have compassion so as not to destroy them.”’”

• Verse 12 The LORD gives a word to Jeremiah that he will be able to give to the people at a certain time in the future.

  • The first thing the LORD impresses on Jeremiah is that he should clarify the word is coming from the LORD, the God of Israel.

    • At some point there is a gathering where Jeremiah is present with some of the leaders of Judah. At this gathering there is the pouring of wine from wine jugs.

  • Jeremiah prepares this crowd for the words of the LORD to be delivered to them.

    • The first thing he is to say is, “Every jug is to be filled with wine.”

    • The LORD knows the people will respond with indignation as they respond saying they know very well the jug is to be filled with wine.

• Verse 13 Then you are to tell them the LORD is about to fill all the inhabitants of this land.

  • The phrase ‘about to fill’ would indicate the judgement has yet to begin to fall at this point in time.

  • The LORD clarifies this will be the king sitting as king on the throne as David’s descendant.

  • This will be for the priests, prophets and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

    • What the LORD is going to fill them with will be too much, likened to drunkenness in judgment.

Is. 63:6 “I trod down the peoples in My anger
And made them drunk in My wrath,
And I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

• Jer. 13:14 This people will be like full jars of wine or wrath, and they will be smashed into one another.

  • The fathers and sons together will be dealt with in this way.

  • The LORD warns that these men He intends to deal with will not be shown reprieve; they will be destroyed.   

Jer. 13:15 Listen and give heed, do not be haughty,
For the LORD has spoken.
Jer. 13:16 Give glory to the LORD your God,
Before He brings darkness
And before your feet stumble
On the dusky mountains,
And while you are hoping for light
He makes it into deep darkness,
And turns it into gloom.
Jer. 13:17 But if you will not listen to it,
My soul will sob in secret for such pride;
And my eyes will bitterly weep
And flow down with tears,
Because the flock of the LORD has been taken captive.

• Verse 15 The LORD again asks the people to listen to Him and to not be prideful because He is the one speaking to them.

  • Verse 16 For this people the time is now to give glory to the LORD your God.

  • There is a window of time closing in before it will be too late and the LORD will bring darkness.

  • Like leaving a mountain hike too late and the dusk turns to darkness which can cause someone to fall down the mountain side.

    • This time is still a time when the people are hoping for light. This indicates the horrible judgment has not yet come on them.

    • The people could give glory to the LORD while they were hoping for a rescue for what was about to come upon them.

    • The LORD knows they will not give glory to Him, and their hope will instead be made into deep darkness.

    • The hope will be made into gloom.

• Verse 17 But if the people will not listen to the Word, spoken of earlier in verse fifteen, then the result will be the LORD will respond in sorrow described as the soul sobbing, hidden from the people for their pride.

  • The LORD weeps for this pride as it is what has dragged His people to be captives.

  • This is the captivity of the false worshipers first.

  • This false worshiping then leads to the judgment of physical captivity by their enemies.

Jer. 13:18 Say to the king and the queen mother,
“Take a lowly seat,
For your beautiful crown
Has come down from your head.”
Jer. 13:19 The cities of the Negev have been locked up,
And there is no one to open them;
All Judah has been carried into exile,
Wholly carried into exile.
Jer. 13:20 “Lift up your eyes and see
Those coming from the north.
Where is the flock that was given you,
Your beautiful sheep?
Jer. 13:21 “What will you say when He appoints over you —
And you yourself had taught them —
Former companions to be head over you?
Will not pangs take hold of you
Like a woman in childbirth?

• Verse 18 Jeremiah is instructed to have specific words for the king and the queen mother.

  • They will be removed from their thrones to a lowly seat.

  • They will have their crowns of power removed from their heads.

    • These prophetic words were specifically fulfilled in 2Kings 24:6-16.

2Kings 24:6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son became king in his place.
2Kings 24:7 The king of Egypt did not come out of his land again, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.
2Kings 24:8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
2Kings 24:9 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.
2Kings 24:10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege.
2Kings 24:11 And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it.
2Kings 24:12 Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his captains and his officials. So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign.
2Kings 24:13 He carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, just as the LORD had said.
2Kings 24:14 Then he led away into exile all Jerusalem and all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land.
2Kings 24:15 So he led Jehoiachin away into exile to Babylon; also the king’s mother and the king’s wives and his officials and the leading men of the land, he led away into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
2Kings 24:16 All the men of valor, seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths, one thousand, all strong and fit for war, and these the king of Babylon brought into exile to Babylon.

• The last king to rule Judah who would have been in the direct line of descendants from David on the throne was Jehoiachin.

  • Verse 12 Jehoiachin and his mother, called the queen mother in Jeremiah, are specifically identified as coming out to meet with Nebuchadnezzar and are carried away into captivity to Babylon.

  • This queen mother is a title that also comes with its own authority and power.

    • She would also have had a lot of influence over her son in his position as king since he was only eighteen years of age.

• Jer. 13:19 The cities of the Negev are specifically referred to as having been locked up from them with no one to reopen them.

  • These cities are to the south of Jerusalem and give the prophetic extent of the reach of the nation from the north when they bring judgment on Judah.

  • And the people of Judah will have been removed in exile.

• Verse 20 The judgment will be seen coming from the north to take away the people, or the flock, those who were to be seen as their beautiful sheep.

  • They were to be the shepherds of the beautiful sheep, but they failed them.

    • 2Kings 24:14-16 gives the details of the people who are carried away in exile with the note that none remained except the poorest people of the land in verse fourteen.

• Back to Jeremiah, read verse 21 again.

Jer. 13:21 “What will you say when He appoints over you —
And you yourself had taught them —
Former companions to be head over you?
Will not pangs take hold of you
Like a woman in childbirth?

• Verse 21 What will these haughty men say when the LORD appoints over them those who they had at one time taught?

  • These men appointed over the rulers of Judah in exile were at one point companions of the king and maybe the others in power and are now given authority over them.

  • This reversal of roles will create pain for the king and the other rulers like a woman going into labor.

  • It will be small pains at first but will grow to be greater pains as time goes on.

    • The “He” is capitalized here to represent the LORD.

    • The he is also represented by king Nebuchadnezzar.

    • He was the one that gave assignments of duty back in Babylon.

    • The king and those who had been left to lead in Jerusalem are exiled in prison while other Jews were put into positions of power. Daniel 1:1-6.

Dan. 1:1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
Dan. 1:2 The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god.
Dan. 1:3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles,
Dan. 1:4 youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the king’s court; and he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.
Dan. 1:5 The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king’s choice food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they were to enter the king’s personal service.
Dan. 1:6 Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.

• Daniel and these men were taken into Babylon during the time of the reign of Jehoiakim the father of Jehoiachin. They had been in Babylon for some years before Jehoiachin is brought to Babylon and put in prison. These men had positions of great prominence before the king and other leaders of Judah were brought to Babylon. Dan. 1:17-21

Dan. 1:17 As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams.
Dan. 1:18 Then at the end of the days which the king had specified for presenting them, the commander of the officials presented them before Nebuchadnezzar.
Dan. 1:19 The king talked with them, and out of them all not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s personal service.
Dan. 1:20 As for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm.
Dan. 1:21 And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king.

• Daniel specifically held positions of power for over 80 years, serving multiple kings in Babylon into the years of Persian rule.

  • Conversely, Jehoiachin spent thirty-seven years in prison in Babylon. 2 Kings 25:27-29.

2Kings 25:27 Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison;
…
2Kings 25:29 Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes and had his meals in the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life;

• Daniel never stopped serving in the court of Babylon, so it could be that Jehoiachin saw Daniel in this powerful role.

  • An archeological discovery of tablets found in Babylon between 1899 to 1917 by Robert Koldewey lead to specific tablets that give detailed rations, saying ‘rations given to "Yaukin, king of the land of Yahudu" (Jehoiachin, king of Judah), and his sons’. They list the quantities of oil, barley, and other provisions allotted to him and his household.

    • These records date back to the time of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II.

  • This is also how the line of king David was preserved during this time, to continue on in the Jewish genealogies as it is clear Jehoiachin and his sons received provision from the king’s table. Matt. 1:11-12

Matt. 1:11 Josiah became the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
Matt. 1:12 After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel.

• The LORD is always faithful to His promises.

Jer. 13:22 “If you say in your heart,
‘Why have these things happened to me?’
Because of the magnitude of your iniquity
Your skirts have been removed
And your heels have been exposed.
Jer. 13:23 “Can the Ethiopian change his skin
Or the leopard his spots?
Then you also can do good
Who are accustomed to doing evil.
Jer. 13:24 “Therefore I will scatter them like drifting straw
To the desert wind.
Jer. 13:25 “This is your lot, the portion measured to you
From Me,” declares the LORD,
“Because you have forgotten Me
And trusted in falsehood.
Jer. 13:26 “So I Myself have also stripped your skirts off over your face,
That your shame may be seen.
Jer. 13:27 “As for your adulteries and your lustful neighings,
The lewdness of your prostitution
On the hills in the field,
I have seen your abominations.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will you remain unclean?”

• Verse 22 The ‘you’ of this verse refers back to the ‘you’ of verse twenty-one, which was directed at the men of power who would be removed from their positions of power over Judah to the prison in Babylon in exile.

  • To these men the LORD says when you ask in your heart why these things have happened to you then you are to know it was because of the magnitude of your iniquity.

  • This would be true for any who were being carried away in exile from Judah.

    • Their skirts have been removed and their heels exposed. This imagery is used elsewhere in scripture as well. Nah. 3:5

Nah. 3:5 “Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of hosts;
“And I will lift up your skirts over your face,
And show to the nations your nakedness
And to the kingdoms your disgrace.

Is. 20:3 And the LORD said, “Even as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot three years as a sign and token against Egypt and Cush,
Is. 20:4 so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.

• The exposure of their sin cannot now be denied and is public.

  • The way these people in positions of power were removed may have included being made a public spectacle as well, displayed by the verse in Isaiah.

  • Their humiliation was part of the judgment.

• Verse 23 The comparison of how the skin of an Ethiopian can’t be changed is pictured now.

  • Ethiopia is in Africa, and it would be a picture of a people of African descent who have black skin. A person who has black skin cannot change the color of their skin.

  • The next picture presented is that of a leopard which would be known to have spots on its skin. In a similar comparison the leopard cannot change the spots of his skin.

  • These two pictures are given to demonstrate how these men do evil, and it is a part of them; they cannot change and will not be able to do good, according to the LORD.

• Verse 24 The LORD says He will scatter them like straw in the blowing wind.

  • Verse 25 The LORD continues to say this judgment is the lot He has determined for these men.

    • The reason this is their determined judgment is because they have forgotten Him.

    • In place of trusting Him they chose to believe lies.

• Verse 26 The LORD clearly declares to these men it is His decision and His judgment that their sin was to be exposed publicly.

  • Verse 27 The LORD takes the opportunity once again to say the sin was their worship of false gods.

    • Their adultery was in the worship of other gods they desired, and participated in publicly.

  • The LORD again declares He has seen it all.

  • Because of this sin the LORD declares a woe on Jerusalem.

  • Their sin has continued for too long and there would be no end if the LORD did not intervene.

    • When the LORD’s people stop clinging to Him, they become worthless to Him.

    • When the LORD’s people do not think they need Him, they are lost.

    • It is the same for us now and it can easily slip into our thinking.

  • This thinking is rooted in pride for the LORD’s people in that day and for us today.

James 4:4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
James 4:5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”?
James 4:6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”
James 4:7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

• The highlighted words in verse six are a reference to Prov. 3:34

Prov. 3:34 Though He scoffs at the scoffers,
Yet He gives grace to the afflicted.

• It is through pride one turns to the way of the world.

  • It is the LORD’s Spirit that should reign in believers.

  • A believer is to have a humble heart which demonstrates the Holy Spirit is active in our lives.

  • When believers have a humble heart then the LORD pours out grace.

    • When the believer has a prideful heart there would not be a cry for grace because that person does not think they need grace. Their pride blinds them.

    • The LORD God does remove pride from the hearts of men. Dan. 4:37.

Dan. 4:37 “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”

• The LORD demonstrates in the most powerful and prideful the ability to remove pride as He did for Nebuchadnezzar.